We believe that shaping the future starts with meaningful conversations. That is why we at IN/LAB created Futures Forum - a discussion forum gathering young adults and media professionals to discuss desirable futures for the news media.
The goal of our event concept Futures Forum is to create a space for participants to network and get to know each other while exploring different ways in which the news media can evolve and what paths are more desirable than others. This fall, we hosted a new round of sessions specifically focused on the topic of trust in media!
In October and November, we hosted two sessions in Stockholm with 17–27 participants per session, including professionals from Aftonbladet, Svenska Dagbladet, and Omni, as well as young adults aged 18-22 from various parts of the city. The conversations focused on prototypes from one of IN/LAB's co-creation projects - Summer Sprint - that visualise what possible news futures might look like.
So what have we learned? Here are the insights from our young collaborators:
Transparency Calms Misinformation Concerns - Most young participants think unverified information risks spreading misinformation, while journalists suggest it can be acceptable if clearly contextualised. Both groups agree that transparency is crucial when publishing uncertain information, e.g. data from highly debated sources or events we do not yet know everything about.
Human Intuition vs AI Judgement - Many participants prefer combining AI and human judgement for assessing news credibility, valuing AI’s data analysis strengths while relying on human intuition for nuance and context. However, an over-confidence in the human “gut feeling” is risky, as humans tend to overestimate their ability for unbiased assessments.
Trust in Proximity and Expertise - Young participants prefer collective expertise over individual experts for credibility and view sources with on-the-ground experience as reliable, e.g. humanitarian organisations in a conflict. While they trust some friends for information, they are cautious of those relying too much on social media due to concerns about misinformation. They are also sceptical of sources they believe have self-serving interests.
Personalisation Evolved: News That Challenges You - Many young participants seek control over their news consumption, for example by choosing what topics and formats to engage with. However, they also value exposure to essential information and challenging perspectives. A more advanced form of personalisation would account for their desire to be challenged, not just catered to.
Direct Line to Your Algorithm - The group acknowledges that algorithms can surpass journalists in consistency and efficiency when it comes to tailoring news feeds to individual preferences. However, they want the ability to interact directly with the algorithm to further refine and personalise their feeds, for example requesting more or less content on a topic.
Tailored Complexity Makes News Accessible - The younger participants said that they might consume more news if the complexity of the information was adapted to their knowledge of the topic. This would make news feel less repetitive and more accessible, without oversimplifying important issues.
A big thanks to all the participants for sharing their thoughts and engaging in these conversations with us!
